I hope I'm not jumping the gun, but I wanted you all to hear the fantastic news--Long Arrow is underway again. I have done what is hopefully the second to last proof of the first 6 chapters and am waiting for Clint to call tomorrow and go over the next 6 or so. I read the whole book on cassettes for him, so he's going through those and making notes for me to work on.
For those Clint Walker fans like me that hopefully will be very welcome news. Also, I'm very close to being finished with the first draft of The Secret of Two Hawks, after many years of having this mystery Western in the works, and tonight I wrote the prolog and the first paragraphs of a book I have been wanting to write for years.
Miles Keogh is the often forgotten Captain in Custer's command who owned and rode Comanche, the soul survivor of the actual Custer contingent at the Little Bighorn, or I should say the only one in the fight. Several Indian scouts told Custer he was full of beans and deserted, but those who stayed all died except for Comanche. I saw an article tonight stating a fallacy that is oft-repeated, that Comanche was Custer's horse. Custer rode a horse he called Vic. Comanche was only ridden by Keogh, an Irishman. The book I am going to write will be a historical fiction piece about Keogh and his horse, entitled, "He Didn't Belong to Custer." It's a play on words, as the book starts out with an ex-soldier correcting a boy who sees Comanche in a parade and says, "There's General Custer's horse!" (There are two fallacies there, since Custer wasn't a General anymore, either.) Anyway, the play on words means Keogh didn't belong to Custer any more than his horse did. He was a very bold man, and the Indians interviewed after the battle spoke very highly of him. He was one of a very few men who refused to shoot their horses in the head and use them as a shield in the fight. Dell, I know you'll appreciate that fact.
Well, I'd better try to at least get a little sleep. Talk to you all soon!
Kirby, Great news! I'm sure everyone here will keep their fingers crossed that things go smoothly from to the finish. I know I'm really looking
forward to reading this one and anything else you get into print.